Gate of 15th-century Timbuktu mosque destroyed

A still from a video showing members of the Ansar Dine extremist group destroying the gate of the Sidi Yahya Mosque in Timbuktu, Mali, on July 2, 2012.

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Members of the Ansar Dine extremist group have destroyed the gate of a 15th-century mosque in the UNESCO-listed city of Timbuktu in the West African nation of Mali.
In their latest act of destruction targeting the city's cultural treasures, the extremist al-Qaeda-linked group used shovels and pickaxes to break down the door of the Sidi Yahya Mosque on Monday, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
"When we were children, we were told that the door would only open at the end of time… Of course our population is not happy. The women, especially, are crying a lot," said a local radio host and longtime resident of the city on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the extremist group desecrated centuries-old mausoleums of Sufi Muslim saints -- Sidi Mahmoud, Sidi El Mokhtar, and Alfa Moya -- and at least seven tombs.
Ansar Dine considers the tombs of Muslim saints in Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu to be idolatrous.
Fatou Bensouda, a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, said on Sunday that the destruction of the heritage of the ancient Malian city is "a possible war crime."
The Malian government denounced the "destructive fury" of the extremists on Saturday, comparing their actions to war crimes, and threatened to take action on the national and international level.
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova also called for an immediate halt to the attacks on the holy sites in Timbuktu.
On Friday, June 29, UNESCO placed Timbuktu on its list of heritage sites in danger.
Timbuktu, sometimes called the city of 333 saints, is also home to nearly 100,000 historic manuscripts. Some of the manuscripts date back to the 12th century and are preserved in family homes and private libraries under the care of religious scholars.
Ansar Dine, along with Tuareg rebels and other armed groups, took advantage of a March 22 coup and swept through northern Mali.
MHB/HGL